Nicolaus august otto



(No Model.)

N. A. OTTO.

MOTOR ENGINE WORKED BY GOMBUSTIBLE GAS 0R VAPOR AND AIR. No. 390,091. Patented Sept. 25, 1888.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT @FFICEQ N ICOLAUS AUGUST OTTO, OF COLOGNE, ASSIGNOR TO THE GAS MOTOREN I FABRIK DEUTZ, OF DEUTZ-ON-THE-RHINE, GERMANY.

MOTOR-ENGINE WORKED BY COMBUSTIBLE GAS OR VAPOR AND AIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,091, dated September 25, 1888.

Application filed March 27. 1888. Serial No. 268,630. (No model.) Patented in England February 28, 1888, No. 3,020 in Belgium March 19, 1888, No. 81,098, and in Italy May 8, 1888, XLV, 496.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NIOOLAUS AUGUST O'rro, a citizen of Prussia, residing at Cologne, in the German Empire, engineer, have invented cer- 5 tain new and useful Improvements in Motor- Engines Worked by Combustible Gas or Vapor and Air, (for which I have obtained patent in Belgium, No. 81,098, dated March 19, 1888; in Italy, No. 496, Vol. XLV, dated May 8, 1888, and have made application for patent in Great Britain, No. 3,020, dated February 28, 1888,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of motorr engines worked by combustible gas or vapor and air, in which the engine operates with a cycle of four strokes-namely, drawing in the combustible charge, compressing the same, firing and working stroke, and expelling the products of combustion.

The present invention has for its object to obtain increased power and useful effect from such engines; and it consists in a novel combination of devices, whereby, first, there is admitted to the cylinder-charge at the end of the suction-stroke a charge of compressed-air or other non-combustible gas under a certain pressure, so as to increase the volume of the charge and give it an initial compression before 0 the compressing-stroke; and, secondly, at the end of the working-stroke a portion of the combustion-gases is caused to pass into a reservoir in order to be furtherutilized by subsequently performing work in expanding. For

3 5 effecting these objects the following construction of engine is by preference employed:

The engine'cylinder is closed at both ends, and communicates at the front end-that is, the end opposite that at which the combusti- 0 ble charge is admitted-with a reservoir, there being two communicating passages-one at the extreme end of the cylinder, and a second one that is uncovered by the piston as it completes its suction and working outstrokes. Further- 5 more, there is provided at the front end of the cylinder a valve serving both for the inlet of air and the escape of combustion-gases to and from the front end of the cylinder. The back end of the cylinder being provided with the usual chamber for the compressed charge, the valve for the admission of the combustible charge, the escape-valve for the products of combustion, and the igniting-slide worked by a counter-shaft moving at half the speed of the engine-shaft, the action of the engine will be 5 as follows: Assuming that the reservoir is filled with air or other non-combustible gas under pressure, the piston on completing its suctionoutstroke uncovers the communication between the reservoir and cylinder, so that a portion of the air under pressure will enter the latter, thus increasing the cylinder-charge and putting it under an initial pressure. The piston then performs its compressing-instroke for compressing the charge, and at the same time the air or gas still remaining under a certain pressure in the reservoir will expand into the front end of the cylinder, assisting in the work of the compressing-stroke until it has expanded down to atmospheric pressure, when the before-mentioned inlet and discharge valve will be opened, so as to allow atmospheric air to enter while the piston completes its compressing-stroke. On the compressed charge being now fired, causing the 7 piston to perform its workingoutstroke, the said valve may be either closed or open, so as either to cause the air in front of the piston to be compressed into the reservoir, or to allow it to escape into the atmosphere, in which latter case the valve is, however, closed before'the piston uncovers the before-mentioned communication with the reservoir, so that when this takes place a portion of the combustion-gases will pass into and be stored up in the reservoir, in order when the piston performs its following instroke for expelling the combustion-gases from the cylinder in the usual manner to pass into the front end of the cylinder and in expanding to perform work. 0 When the piston has completed its expellingstroke, the valve to the front end of the cylinder is opened, so as to allow the combustiongases under pressure still remaining in the front end of the cylinder to escape into the at- 9 5 mosphere, and on its being again closed the piston, in performing its suction-outstroke at the commencement of the next cycle, will compress the gas and air in front of the piston into the reservoir through both the said passages. The engine is then in the condition first above described, and the cycle of operation, as set forth, is repeated.

The discharge and admission valve to the front end of the cylinder may be actuated by a sliding cam on the eountershaft of the engine, which is controlled either by hand or by a governor, so as, by opening or closing the valve sooner or later, to vary the degree of compression of the air and gases in the reservoir.

The accompanying drawings show diagram sections of the cylinder and reservoir of a gasmotor engine constructed according to the above-described invention.

Figure 1 shows a sectional plan, and Fig. 2 a cross-section.

The engine-cylinder a is closed at its front end and communicates, first, by two passages, h and i, with the reservoir b, and, secondly, by a passage with an inlet and outlet valve, actuated by cams n on the counter- 2 5 shaft 0, which revolves at half the speed of the engine-shaft. The stroke of the piston 0 extends to the dotted line, leaving the space a in the back end of the cylinder for containing the compressed charge, which is admitted through the valve 0 and ignited by the ignitingtube m, made to communicate with the cylinder at the proper moment by the slide worked from the counter-shaft in the known manner.

f is the dischargevalve for the combustiongases,opened at the required moment by means of a cam, r, on the countershaft, also in the known manner.

It will be seen that piston 0 toward the end of its suction and working outstrokes uncovers the passage h, leading to the reservoir, so that in the one case compressed air and combustion-gases previously stored in the reservoir will pass from the same into the combusti- 5 be charge contained in the cylinder, while in the other case the products of combustion will expand from the cylinder into the reservoir. The passage 1', on the other hand, always communicates with the front end of the cylinder, so that during the compressing-instroke the air and gases under pressure remaining in the reservoir will expand into the cylinder, doing work first through passage t and then through both t and it, while during the expelling-in- 5 5 stroke the products of combustion will expand from the reservoir into the cylinder in the same manner.

The valve y opens toward the end of the compressing-instroke to admit the outer air, and also during the working-outstroke for the escape of air and gases, while during the suction-outstroke and expellinginstroke the valve remains closed, it being opened momentarily at the end of the last-named stroke for the cs cape of the combustiongases. The valve may either be immediately closed again before the commencement of the suction-outstroke, so as to effect the compression of the air and gases in front of the piston during the whole of such stroke, or it may be kept open during part of 'such stroke, so as to limit the degree of compression to any desired extent. For this purpose the cam n, actuating the valve g,is mounted on a sleeve, 1), that can he slid on the shaft 0, so as to bring parts thereof with a longer or shorter dwell opposite the valve-lever l, as may be required. Instead of arranging the passage h in this position shown, so that the openingand closing thereof are effected by the piston itself, it may be placed in other positions, such as at 71., in which case the opening and closing thereof at the proper times for effecting the above-described operations would have to be effected by a cam on the countershaft 0 in a similar manner to the valves f and 9.

Having thus described the nature of my invention and the best means I know for carrying the same into practical effect, I claim 1. The combination, with the cylinder and piston of a gas and oil motor engine working with a cycle of four strokes; of an ignitingtube and an inlet-valve for the charge, a discharge valve for the combustion charge, a valve for the inlet of air and the escape of air and gases, and a reservoir connected with the cylinder by two passages which are governed so that in one stroke of the piston the compressed air and combustible gases previously stored in the reservoir pass therefrom into the combustible charge in the cylinder and in the other stroke of the piston the products of combustion expand from the cylinder into the reservoir, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a gas or oil motor engine of the kind working with a cycle of four strokes and having a compression-space, the combination of a working-cylinder closed at both ends with a reservoir communicating with the cylinder by two passages, one situated at the extreme front end and the other at an intermediate point, so that at the suction-stroke the piston compresses air and combustion-gases into the res ervoir through both passages, which air and gas are admitted into the charge through the second passage at the end of such stroke, while at the end of the working-outstroke a portion of the combustiongases passes into the reservoir through the second passage in order to pass back into the cylinder through the said passages and during the expelling-instroke and in expanding to perform work.

3. In a four-stroke cycle gas-motor engine, wherein the cylinder is closed at the front end and communicates with a reservoir by a passage at the front end, and by a second passage at an intermediate point of its length, a valve connected to the front end of the cylinder, which valve is opened during the working-out stroke of the piston to allow of the escape of air and combustion-gases in front of the piston, and also during part of the compressinginstroke to allow of the entrance of air in front of the piston, but is closed during the suctionto this specification, in the presence of two suboutstroke and expelling-instroke, in order in scribing witnesses, this 12th day of March, A. to the first case to allow air to be compressed in D. 1888.

the reservoir, and in the second case to allow T T v 5 the combustion-gases to perform work in ex- LIGOLAJS AUGUST 01 panding in the front of the cylinder, substan- \Vitnesses: tially as herein described. PETER LANGEN,

In testimony whereof I have signed my nzune WILHELM RINoK. 

